Unincorporated areas lead real estate trends, population growth
Unincorporated Harris County has seen unprecedented growth in recent years as a result of lower land costs, various tax abatements and a large percentage of undeveloped land—factors that have led to an upswing in the Northwest Houston housing market.
As of November, property sales in Houston have continued to increase for 16 consecutive months, which caused enough home buying activity in September to lower available housing inventories to the lowest level since 2002, according to the Houston Association of Realtors.
"This is the longest stretch since a 37-month stretch that ended in February 2007 before the recession," said Wayne Stroman, HAR chairman and CEO of Stroman Realty. "Demand for homes throughout Houston continues to outpace supply."
A seller's market
Data compiled by HAR shows an increase of 8.7 percent in sales for single-family homes compared to September 2011 throughout Houston. The average price for single-family homes increased by 4.7 percent to $220,992—the highest level for a September—while the median price climbed 6.1 percent to $165,000. The average home cost in Cypress for 2012 is nearly $250,000 compared to just more than $222,500 in 2010, according to HAR data.
The total dollar amount of home sales in 2012 increased nearly 14 percent more than last year's $1.1 billion in sales, according to HAR data. While some areas of Cy–Fair saw a decrease in home sales, other areas—such as those near Willowbrook, Bridgeland and Towne Lake—saw closing sales increase more than 80 percent over last year. Figures show nearly 50,000 homes sold in 2012, but less than 1,500 homes are currently available for sale in Cypress.
"Because there are so [few] homes for sale, we have found ourselves in a seller's market, which really comes down to the scarcity [of homes] and homes that are move-in ready, which is what buyers really want," said Colleen Pye, a Cypress Realtor with ReMax. "Today's interest rates are at an all-time low. If [a buyer] can purchase, it is a whole lot cheaper than renting as we're starting to see prices rise because [Cypress] is becoming a hub. So many [residents] are coming here from other cities."
A majority of residents are moving from California, New York, Michigan, New Jersey and Illinois, as these are states with fewer jobs and higher taxes, Pye said.
Residential development
With about 40 percent of Cy-Fair ISD's 186 square miles of land mass undeveloped, the area is a prime location for developers, according to district data.
"There's more undeveloped land in unincorporated areas, [which] is also generally in larger tracts and less costly to acquire and develop," said Jeff Taebel, Houston–Galveston Area Council's director of community and environmental planning. "These factors have particularly come into play in northwest Harris County over the last decade or so."
When most people buy new housing, they are not specifically eschewing incorporated areas, said Dmitry Messen, socioeconomic modeling program manager with H-GAC.
"It's just the bulk of new housing in the region is being [constructed] in the unincorporated areas," he said.
Growth of new developments have allowed housing rates to drop, refinancing to climb and residents to stay in one place to raise their families, said Tami Channel, president of C&T Mortgage, a Cypress company that helps homebuyers with their financial needs.
"We have consistently found our refinances have remained the same since the rates dropped—which shows that our market here in Cypress has mostly maintained [its] value," she said. "We have seen purchases dramatically increase due to the low rates and people moving 'out west'."
Popular projects in these undeveloped areas of unincorporated Harris County are master-planned communities ranging in size from a few hundred to more than 20,000 new homes.
The population in the master-planned community of Bridgeland and the adjacent properties has increased dramatically in the past decade—from 3,642 to 31,091 residents—according to census data.
"The draw to master-plans has always been about the ability to stay in the community for most of your family's lifestyle," said Peter Houghton, vice president of Bridgeland. "The latest repetition in terms of the current market is that residents like to see mixed land use. In recent years, the emphasis on providing village centers and walkable areas are the kinds of venues that have become more important. [Master-planned communities] also offer amenities that were formerly unavailable in smaller communities."
Upon completion, developments in Bridgeland, Cypress Creek Lakes, Fairfield, Rock Creek and Towne Lake will provide an additional 15,000 acres of development and more than 30,000 new houses over the next 20 years, according to the tentative build-out plans.
